Meeting on 4 and 5 June in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe's European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) will finalise the reform of the evaluation of European judicial systems. After 20 years of existence, the CEPEJ aims to modernise its evaluation system to provide more up-to-date, detailed and dynamic judicial data.
Every two years, the CEPEJ publishes an evaluation report on judicial systems which aims to provide policy makers and legal professionals with a practical tool for a better understanding of the functioning of justice in Europe and beyond, in order to improve its efficiency and quality.
At this meeting, the CEPEJ will adopt a new, more concise questionnaire aimed at States, but covering all the essential aspects: budgets, length and efficiency of proceedings, the place of users and the role of legal professionals. The aim of this reform is to collect judicial data on an annual rather than biannual basis. The main European trends and the country data sheets will be given a new presentation, and new indicators will be discussed, to offer a more dynamic and up-to-date picture of the state of justice in Europe.
The CEPEJ should also adopt guidelines on the quality of judicial debate. This document will be a roadmap for judges, lawyers and other actors in the justice system, in order to strengthen the cooperation needed to ensure respect for the right to a fair trial, in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the principles derived from it, in particular that of adversarial principle.
A guide on the use and development of judicial hearings, which contains an analysis of statistical data on the subject and compiles a number of good practices, should complement the existing guidelines.
CEPEJ members will also be informed of the development of the future database on effective national practices to reduce judicial backlogs in European courts. The development of the Resource Centre on Artificial Intelligence and Cyberjustice, which presents the tools implemented in Europe, will also be discussed. Finally, the CEPEJ will present the results of ongoing cooperation programmes, which are helping to improve the efficiency and quality of justice in many European countries as well as in Morocco.
The meeting will be opened by the President of the CEPEJ, Francesco Depasquale (Malta), with the participation of Jonathan Attard, Maltese Minister for Justice and Reform of the Construction Sector, and Gianluca Esposito, Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law at the Council of Europe.
